Considered the greatest surfer of all time Team USA captain Kelly Slater competes in the first run of the qualifying round during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Huntington Beach local and Team World member Kanoa Igarashi waves to the crowd in the first run of the qualifying round during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

WSL commentator Strider Wasilewski waits for the next rider during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

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San Diego Resident Austin Higgins takes a picture while waiting for a buss to take him to the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Ryan Macon, Jon Macon and Roberto Ramos (from left to right) wait for a bus to take them to the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Attendees line up along the lagoon to watch competing surfers during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

A child plays in a surfboard art installment during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Event attendees board a bus to take them to the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Considered the greatest surfer of all time Team USA captain Kelly Slater competes in the first run of the qualifying round during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

San Clemente Local and Team USA member Kolohe Andino competes in the first run of the qualifying round during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Fresno residents Nick King and Alexandria Lehnert enjoy the sights and sounds during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Event attendees wait in line during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

San Paulo Brazil resident Rafael Collin and his child Noah enjoy breakfast during the the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Back to back surf world title winner John John Florence competes in the first run of the qualifying round for Team USA during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

San Clemente Local and Team USA member Kolohe Andino competes in the first run of the qualifying round during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Back to back surf world title winner John John Florence waves to the crowd in the first run of the qualifying round for Team USA during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Orange County residents (from left to right) Michael Clark, Mary Vigler and daughter Lilly enjoy a performance by musical artist DAVIE (not pictured) during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

San Luis Obispo Resident Luke Llmas and sun Isaac walk along the lagoon path during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Team Brazil”s Adriano de Souza reacts after misjudging a wave during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Visalia residents and John and Tony Wittus along with their son Jonathan take in the DAVIE concert during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Team World’s Bianca Buitendag competes in the first run of the qualifying round during the the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Europe’s most successful pro surfer of all time Jeremy Flores competes in the first run of the qualifying round during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

San Diego resident Chris Clark shapes a board for a competitor using a planer tool as an attendee looks on during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Team World Captain Jordy Smith competes in the first run of the qualifying round during the the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Huntington Beach local and Team World member Kanoa Igarashi competes in the first run of the qualifying round during the the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Six-time surfing world title holder and Australia Team Captain Stephanie Gilmore competes in the first run of the qualifying round during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Team Australia’s Joel Parkinson reacts after falling in the first run of the qualifying round at the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Event attendees relax in the Breaker bar area during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Team Australia’s Mick Fanning competes in the first run of the qualifying round during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Europe’s most successful pro surfer of all time Jeremy Flores competes in the first run of the qualifying round during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Skip Thianer, 3, walks down the lagoon path during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Back to back surf world title winner John John Florence competes in the first run of the qualifying round for Team USA during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Considered the greatest surfer of all time Team USA captain Kelly Slater competes in the first run of the qualifying round during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

The wining team trophy is pictured during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Three-time World Champion Carissa Moore competes in the first run of the qualifying round for Team USA during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Santa Barbara native and Team USA member Lakey Peterson competes in the first run of the qualifying round during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Santa Barbara native and Team USA member Lakey Peterson competes in the first run of the qualifying round during the WSL Founders’ Cup of Surfing at the WSL Surf Ranch in Lemoore, Calif. on Saturday May 5, 2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

An estimated 5,000 people flocked to Lemoore, just south of Fresno, bringing surf vibes to the rural town in a coliseum-style setting. It was a mix of two worlds: surf fans showing up to see how a big contest could happen in artificial waves mingling with inlanders getting an introduction to a sport that, for the most part, has historically happened at the coast.

Here are 15 takeaways from the first day of the two-day event, the WSL Founders Cup, which continues Sunday as some of the world’s best surfers compete in the fresh-water wave pool.

1. The wave is long. The wave runs 700-yards, a ride that takes surfers from one end of the venue to the other. It’s impressive to see what surfers can do on such a long-lasting, liquid canvas, combining big turns and barrel rides for several maneuvers on one wave. As a spectator, the wave’s length makes it a bit challenging to watch – if you’re in the stadium seating on the north end of the venue, for example, you only see the right-hand waves, but miss the entire rides going in the other direction. If you’re sitting along the side of the pool, you miss half the wave once it passes – but as the surfers fly by, spectators get the advantage of a close-up view as they slash their way on the wave’s face. Big televisions screens set up around the arena help.

2. Dude, where’s the beach? There’s no salty breeze here – and it is muggy and sweltering in Central California. There’s no beach, other than small strips of sand that line a second body of water on the west side of the venue, where eventually people started dipping into in order to cool off. Rather than being on the sand with a towel, spectators were in bleachers and cabanas. And of course, the biggest difference from the ocean is that the wave itself is predictable — unlike the ocean where you look to the horizon and wonder when the next wave will show up.

3. So Cal locals showed up. Among the sold-out crowd of an estimated 5,000 people, there were plenty of familiar faces, including industry insiders and surf fans who made the pilgrimage to witness the historic event. The manager of Duke’s Restaurant in Huntington Beach, Brett Barnes, was cruising around with Visit Huntington Beach CEO Kelly Miller. Greg Cruse, CEO of USA Surfing, was hanging out, as was Peter “PT” Townend, surfing’s first world champion, and women’s former world champion Jericho Poppler. Longtime surfers weren’t going to miss the historic moment in surfing’s history.

4. People traveled from around the country. Chris Harrison and Chad Mullis made the event into a surf adventure. The duo flew from Myrtle Beach, S.C, to San Diego, staying at Nomads hotel in San Clemente and surfing spots like Upper Trestles and Malibu before making the pilgrimage up to Lemoore to see the “surf party at the pool,” Mullis called it.

5. Locals were stoked, too. Clint and Crystal Rocha live 10 minutes away, and the event was a huge buzz in the community. It was the biggest event they can remember in the town in recent history. “It’s huge around here,” said Crystal Rocha. “The music, the surfing, everyone wanted to come.” They’d like to see more events held at the venue, envisioning Coachella-style music festivals, with surfing as the backdrop.

6 It’s in the middle of nowhere. Cows. Lots of cows. It’s the most unlikely place for a surf contest, in the middle of the state, in an area known for its farming and agriculture. South African surfer Jordy Smith, who lives in San Clemente, joked that when he first came here, he had to have his wife double check the directions. “I was like ‘babe, you sure we’re going the right way?’ I see these construction sites, these tractors and cows and huge farmlands. I was like, it cannot be here, it’s impossible. Then you just see the wave and you think, ‘oh wow, it’s real’.”

7. Insider info: Kelly Slater’s inspiration for the pool came from outside of surfing. “I had a friend who created all these golf properties around the country, Bahamas and Mexico. I was a member at one of the courses, it really inspired me to see what he put together. All the networking, connections, knowing the right people to get all the aspects done,” he said in an interview with the Orange County Register. “When I started working on this, that really inspired me to get something like this done.”

8. People brought surfboards, just in case. It just felt too weird for surfers to go to a surf contest without packing a board. Surf fan Blake Lawless packed one, even though he knew he’d have no chance of surfing. “I drove up here with a surfboard in my car,” said Lawless, of Santa Monica. “I’m not going surfing. I’m going to be immersing myself in surfing for the next two days — to not be able to get wet is very difficult.” He wasn’t the only one that packed a board, with plenty of wishful surfers bringing their surf gear, just in case.

9. This version of the wave pool is for the pros: “I think this is more specialized, with this technology, because it’s the high-level wave. It has more energy, more wave than most people can handle,” said Slater. “But to make it a beginner wave, you don’t need it to be a fast, hollow wave. You can make something that is slower, a little more user-friendly, less energy, and greater number of waves to have more people in the body of water together. I see something like that filling in all those gaps.”

10. But even the pros struggled. There were plenty of wipeouts through the day, surfers getting pummeled on the 6-foot wave as they’d catch an edge and go down. And most of the surfers, many who can land airs in their sleep, avoided going above the lip for most of the morning as they warmed up on the wave. It was Filipe Toledo, a Brazilian living in San Clemente, who took the biggest chance by landing two big airs in round 2 to earn a perfect 10 score. Fellow Brazilian Gabriel Medina followed with a big aerial, wowing the crowd. The surfers seemed to loosen up and take more risks in the second part of the day.

11. More than surf. The event is part surf contest, part festival. When the contest took a mid-day break for an hour and a half, the crowds flocked to an area set up for a music concert. There were plenty of bars to buy booze, with contest-goers sipping on beers as they strolled the venue, an unlikely sight on the sand at a contest on California beaches. Around the venue, there was artwork to check out and food trucks that showed up to feed the crowds.

12. It has Olympic potential: It’s easy to see how this plug-and-play format would work for the Olympics. The team format of the contest, with surfers competing for various regions, gave a glimpse at how surfers may have country pride during the upcoming games in 2020. The wave pool has predictability with set times, which is perfect for a television audience. And it gives an even playing field for all athletes – both male and female – with both genders putting on a show for the crowd.

13. Recognizing the sport’s founders. It wasn’t just a look into the future. The name of the event, the Founders’ Cup, paid homage to the surfers who paved the way for professional surfing. Among the seven surfers recognized were Orange County residents Ian Cairns and Townend, both originally from Australia, and South African and Santa Barbara resident Shaun Tomson.

“Us guys from that period, we helped create, promote and envision pro surfing,” Tomson said. “I just think we’re a group of passionate young surfers and dreamed that one day we’d be able to make a living by surfing. And it’s wonderful to see how its evolved now … And in no way has (the wave pool) defiled the purity of surfing, that pure connection that surfers have with nature. Whether it’s in Pacific, or Indian Ocean or here in a wave pool in Lemoore, there’s that connection where you’re in the ocean or the pool. It’s just a wonderful addition.”

14. The wave is perfect, almost. Smith can envision how technology will make wave pools even better. “Years from now, we could be standing in perfect, 10-foot barrels. This is just the beginning and I can’t wait to see where it goes.”

15. Business was booming for the small town. Local businesses were pumped up on the thousands of people who showed up for the event. The only other big event that brings this much tourism is the annual agricultural farm show in February, said Nerylyn Catalan, manager for the Motel 6 in Lemoore. For remote towns like Lemoore, they’ll be reaping the benefit of the added tourism – and it’s a model that could be mimicked at any rural town across America.

Surf Ranch operators want to hold six events per year, with expansion on the 155-acre site to include more waves for research and training, as well as opening up the venue to public use. There could be job opportunities. A report submitted to Kings County recently detailed the need for up to 30 people to staff the facility, including maintenance, guest services and security.

Laylan Connelly started as a journalist in 2002 after earning a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. Through the years, she has covered several cities for The Orange County Register, starting as a beat reporter in Irvine before focusing on coastal cities such as Newport Beach, Dana Point and Laguna Beach. In 2007, she was selected for a prestigious Knight New Media fellowship focusing on digital media at UC Berkeley, where she learned skills to adapt to the ever-changing online landscape. Using a web-based approach, she turned her love for the ocean into a full-time gig as the paper’s beaches reporter. The unique beat allows her to delve into coastal culture by covering everything from the countless events dotting the 42 miles of coastline, to the business climate of the surf industry, to the fascinating wildlife that shows up on the shores. Most importantly, she takes pride in telling stories of the people who make the beaches so special, whether they are surfers using the ocean to heal, or the founders of major surf brands who helped spawn an entire culture, or people who tirelessly fight to keep the coast pristine and open for all to enjoy. She’s a world traveler who loves to explore the slopes during winter months or exotic surf spots around the globe. When she’s not working, or maybe while she's researching a story, you can find her longboarding at her favorite surf spots at San Onofre or Doheny.

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